Biblia Germanica 1545

Now that the Protestant world has celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, it is a wonderful occasion to review the Biblia Germanica 1545 (Hendrickson, 2017). This volume is a replica of the 1545 Luther Bible, and of course, it is written in German.

Luther wrote many volumes, but none of them has the value and relevance of the translation of the Latin Bible to German language. That allowed people from German Speaking countries to read the Bible in their own langue. We have to consider the risk Luther faced at that time by translating the Bible from Latin to German. Thanks to his braveness and determination the door for other translation to different common languages opened. Now we can say the Bible is the most translated book in the world. Even minorities can read the Bible in their native language.

The Biblia Germanica 1545 comes in a box that helps to preserve the Bible from damage, as this is a volume that is not designed for regular use. The cover is a cloth over board with the title Biblia Germanica 1545 in gold color over a black square on the spine. The ribbon is a 5 mm, gold color and large enough to make it easy to manipulate it without any issues. The paper is not white but bond color. The font is the same size as Luther’s original Bible. In fact, this whole volume is an exact replica of the Bible Luther wrote. Even the notes Luther wrote on the margin are included in this beautiful and commemorative Biblia Germanica 1545.

This is a heavy volume due to the number of pages (1552) and the hard cover, but of course potential buyers would not carry this Bible with them. Who’s this Bible for? Well, even if you can read German, this is not the type of Bible you would use in your daily reading or study. This Bible is more designed for collectors, expositions, exhibit, or just display in an office. Why would someone buy the Biblia Germanica 1545? For commemorative reasons.

I received a copy of this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255